Paper Hearts
by Beyond The Horizon
Summary: Kyle hates Valentine's Day. The love of his life is with someone else and he's pestered with the thought of being single. If only he realized who's been waiting for him all this time. K2. Side couples: Stan/Wendy, Craig/Tweek and One-sided Stan/Kyle.


Kyle slammed his locker door, a sour look on his face. He hated Valentine's Day. Every year, it was one and the same. Couples would walk down the halls, hand and hand, and looking at each other with a look that could only be described as lovesick, emphasis on the 'sick'.

"Hey Kyle!" Kyle turned around to see his best friend, waving at him a few meters away. The Jew gave a sheepish wave to his overly energetic friend which seemed to give Stan the encouragement he needed to walk over. Kyle gave a small smile. _Well, at least I have Stan to spend the day with…_A group of students moved to reveal Wendy trailing after Stan. _Goddamnit._ Kyle's smile faded as fast as it came. Stan gave his friend a high five before hooking his hand around Wendy's waist. "What's up, dude?"

Kyle shrugged. "Nothing. You still on for video games after school at my place?"

Wendy cleared her throat and gave Stan a menacing look. Stan looked back at his friend awkwardly. "Uh…actually, Wendy and I sort of got back together yesterday. I know that we made plans to play Zombie Attack 5 and I really wish there was a way we still could…"

"But you have plans with Wendy now." Kyle finished.

"You understand, right Kyle?" Wendy asked, her voice firm and confident. Oh yes, Kyle understood completely. Kyle knew all too well why Wendy had spontaneously decided that she and Stan and were an item again.

Most couples went through the same bizarre behavioural pattern. For some reason, that Kyle could only describe has biological, girls found Valentine's Day to be one of the most important days of the year. Most of the girls that went to this high school were scrambling at the last minute to find an unfortunate boy to spend it with. The girls would then gather around the cafeteria table the following day, bragging about what their 'boyfriends' did for them. In a way, it was sort of like some twisted contest. Kyle rolled his eyes. The entire concept was completely absurd. "Of course." Kyle replied, hiding his disappointment. "You two will have a great time."

A bright smile appeared on Stan's face. "Thanks so much, dude! You're the best friend a guy could ask for." The raven haired boy brought his friend into a tight hug. Kyle flushed at the sudden movement but quickly adjusted to his friend's embrace and hugged back. Stan pulled away, much to Kyle's disappointment, and turned back to his girlfriend. "And you are the best girlfriend a guy could ask for."

Wendy giggled at Stan's comment and clutched his arm. "We better get going to class."

Stan nodded and gave a light punch to Kyle's arm. "See you tomorrow, Kyle!" Kyle watched as his best friend disappeared into the sea of students.

The warning bell rang provoking Kyle to make his way towards Biology. Kyle navigated the crowd and forced himself towards his destination. He finally arrived at the Biology lab and took his seat. Kyle opened his lime green binder and began to scribble down the date and lesson heading. He glanced at the empty seat next to him at his work bench. As Kyle began to write down the apparatus to the lab, he found himself secretly wishing that Stan would walk through that door and sit next to him. Stan was supposed to be taking Biology with him until Wendy convinced him to take English LIT with her at the last minute. Being the teenage boy that he was, he figured that this would score him some points with Wendy and quickly abandoned Biology. In Kyle's frustration, he pushed the pencil into the paper a little too hard into the paper resulting in a hole. _Great, how can this day get any worse?_ "Hey Kahl!" A voice sounded from above. _Oh God…No._

Kyle looked up into Cartman's brown eyes. Cartman usually sat at the other end of the room and the two of them barely spoke during the class. Kyle knew that his 'friend' was close to failing and he often wondered why he took this class at all. All Cartman did was sit around and do absolutely nothing. "What the hell do you want, fatass?" Kyle responded, turning his attention back towards the blackboard.

"I'm going to be your lab partner today, Jew." Cartman quickly sat down in the now occupied seat next to me. "That bitch of a teacher thought that since my grades are slipping, you could help me during today's lab."

"Why would I help you? You treat me like shit every day." Kyle replied, still ignoring his obese friend.

"Well, the teacher assigned me as your lab partner and you can't do anything about it. So HA!" Cartman laughed. _Fuck my life._ Kyle thought helplessly. "So, have YOU gotten chocolates from someone today?"

"No, I didn't." The teen said through gritted teeth. "You know that I don't have a girlfriend, Cartman,"

"That's very interesting seeing as when I woke up this morning; I was greeted with this lovely chocolate box!" The fat teen waved a heart shaped box in the Jew's face, earning him a nasty glare.

"Your mom gave them to you, fatass. Parents are SUPPOSED to give their children something on Valentine's Day." Kyle said, narrowing his eyes in frustration.

"I don't see your box, Jew. Don't your parents love you?" Cartman teased.

"Shut your mouth, Cartman!" Kyle's voice rose.

"Mr. Broflovski!" A shrill voice sounded. Kyle turned his head towards the teacher who was giving a glare to the both of them. "May I start the lesson? You and Eric have been arguing for five minutes of my scheduled lab. Detention on Friday, both of you."

Kyle's mouth fell open in shock. Cartman nodded at the teacher's words before making a 'tsk tsk' noise in Kyle's direction. "You're absolutely right, Ms. Marpole. I apologize for my behaviour."

"Kyle, you would do well to follow Eric's example of an apology." Kyle was fuming. How could she believe that Cartman's transparent act? After he apologized, she returned to her lesson, completely oblivious to Cartman's constant pestering.

"She loves me more because I'm not a Jew." Cartman whispered. Kyle put his head down and stared blankly at the blackboard. _Kill me now._

The redheaded teen rushed out the classroom door moments after the period bell rang. The teen pushed carelessly passed some teens sucking each other's face off and left through the school's front door.

Taking a deep breath of the chill February air, Kyle sat down on one of the school's old benches. _I hate Valentine's Day. _The Jew thought to himself. _Stan blew me off, Cartman's forcing down a path of delinquency, and everyone's got their significant other but me. _"Kyle?" Kyle turned to his left, his eyes meeting Kenny's. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

Kyle released the breath he was holding in. "Oh, hey Ken. Going to ruin my day too?"

"Why would I do that?" The blonde teen asked, genuine curiosity in his words. Kenny walked over to the bench and took a seat next to his friend. "What's going on? What happened?"

Kyle crossed his arms and shifted slightly away from the worried blonde. "I don't want to drag you into this…"

"Is it Stan? Cartman? Craig?" Kenny started to list names. Kyle raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Stan ditched me and Cartman's an asshole."

Kenny pulled his orange parka hood down so he could properly regard his friend. "Why did Stan ditch you?"

"I don't know, Wendy convinced him to." Kyle mumbled, slumping in his seat. A winter chill sending shivers down both boys' backs.

"That sucks, dude. Wendy's quite the bitch, isn't she?" Kenny smiled to himself and put his hands behind his head in a recreational stance.

"It's not that. Wendy's actually a notable academic rival." Kyle said. "It's just…why would Stan go back to her? They break up so often…He needs someone that will be with him for a lengthier amount of time."

"Someone like you?" Kenny asked, a bored tone to his voice.

Kyle felt flustered and gave Kenny a slight nudge. "Knock it off, Ken. I don't like Stan in THAT way."

Kenny sighed and turned his head towards his friend. "Don't dick around, Kyle. It's painfully obvious of your crush on him. I'm surprised no one else has caught on. I see the way your face lights up at the mere mention of him. I also notice that you always give him a nervous smile whenever Stan compliments you as though you take it as a statement of his affection. I'm not an idiot." Kenny commented.

"So what if I do? Are you going to tease me about being gay?" Kyle asked defensively.

Kenny shook his head, pushing a stray hair out of his sapphire eyes. "Not at all. Being gay is nothing to be ashamed of, being bisexual sort of gives you that insight." Kenny said, patting the Jew's back. "Maybe you should look past Stan and maybe widen your options. It is Valentine's Day, after all."

Kyle moaned and propped his head on his hands. "Stan's enjoying his time with Wendy and I'm sure they're having a great time."

Kenny bit his lip and looked uneasy. "Actually, I was meaning to tell you something…"

"What does he see in her? I've been there for him since we were little. Why does he have to be so blind?" Kyle asked, ignoring Kenny.

Kenny opened his mouth but appeared to change his mind in the last minute. "Kyle, find someone who appreciates you. I'm sure there's someone out there who would take a bullet for you. Maybe he's closer than you think…" Kenny said trailing off. "If Stan can't appreciate you, he's not worth your effort."

Kyle looked up thoughtfully at the blonde, finally listening to his words. "I don't know…It's hard to let someone, whom you've had such strong feelings, go so quickly…"

Kenny smiled and put his hands in his parka pockets. "Believe me Kyle. There's someone waiting for you…"

"Hey McCormick! You and Broflovski fucking yet?" Craig asked, smirking as him and Tweek walked out of the school doors. Craig had his hands in his navy blue jacket with Tweek holding onto his arm in a fashion that reminded Kyle of Wendy and Stan from earlier.

"Shut up, Tucker." Kenny snapped, his cheeks beginning to grow red. "Mind your own goddamn business."

"Someone's a little touchy." Craig grinned. Craig made eye contact with Kyle and promptly flipped him off. Kyle rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Tweek. The twitching teen smiled and gave a slight wave to Kyle.

Kyle gave Tweek a small smile and waved back. "Hey Tweek, you and Craig doing something tonight?" Craig and Tweek were one of a few openly gay couples in the school. Due to Craig's slightly overprotective nature, the rest of the school were careful of their words whenever they were nearby. Craig and Tweek began dating in grade ten and they were two years strong. Kyle had secretly yearned for such a solid relationship and he had hoped that one day, that would be him and Stan.

"Gah…I'm not sure. I didn't plan anything. Oh God! Was I supposed to plan something? I should've planned something. AH!" Tweek stuttered over his words, the caffeine obsessed teen looked nervously from Craig to Kyle.

"Don't worry, Tweek. You weren't supposed to plan anything. I have it all under control." The blue chullo boy soothed. Tweek, although still twitching at an unreasonable rate, appeared to calm down and began to take deep breaths. Craig turned back to Kenny. "As much as I love talking to you, we have to be somewhere. Have fun trying to get into Broflovski's pants, McCormick." Craig flipped off the both of them and began walking away from the two slightly stunned teens.

Kyle didn't notice the deep scarlet colour of Kenny's face and instead gave a heavy sigh. "Why does Craig act like such an asshole? Why does he assume that you want to get into everyone's pants? You're not a man whore and I don't know how you can take all the shit that's said about you. Why can't Craig accept that you can be friends with someone without trying to sleep with them?"

"Right…friends." Kenny said, his voice drifting off.

"But I don't understand it: Craig's a complete asshole and he somehow gets himself into a stable relationship. Ugh, this is why I hate Valentine's Day."

Kenny's blue eyes fell. "Ah…you mean like the couples making out and stuff? Yeah, that gets annoying…"

"No, I mean the whole holiday in general. The paper hearts, the chocolates, the chalky candy hearts that have the disgustingly sweet messages on them. I'm sick of all of it. There are people, like Craig, who can get away with being complete dicks and they somehow find themselves inside a relationship. I've never done anything wrong. I always try to be nice, helpful and cooperative. Why can't I find someone?" Kyle ranted. Kenny looked a Kyle with a blank stare and pulled his hood back up, to conceal some of his face.

"You hate the paper hearts? I thought they were…sort of cute." Kenny said quietly.

"Especially the paper hearts, Ken. They were cute in first grade but now they look like desperate cries for help. Why would you give someone a paper heart?" Kyle ran his hand through his red hair. "I don't know. I guess when you know that the person you love isn't going to be spending Valentine's Day with you; it really puts a damper on your spirit. As far as I'm concerned, if I see one more paper heart, it'll be one heart too many." Kyle stood up and sighed. "Anyway, I have to go. I'll see you around Kenny."

After saying his goodbye, Kenny watched Kyle walk further and further away from his bench. The blonde removed his hand from his pocket, his fingers still gripping his present for Kyle. Kenny stood up and walked towards the trash bin.

He wished that Kyle would see past Stan and spot him. He wished that Kyle would pick up on the numerous hints he dropped him. Kenny saw today as the perfect opportunity to tell Kyle how he truly felt but he saw now that they would forever be 'friends'. He would always be playing against Stan and the blonde knew that he would always lose.

Tears stained the cheeks of the parka wearing boy. He made sure Kyle couldn't get a good look at his face for that very reason. Kyle deserved better than him; he should've known. Who would want a poor boy's gift? With one final look at his handcrafted paper heart, the homeless teen ripped the rose pink paper in two and carelessly dropped the pieces in the trash.


End file.
